Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1887-05-18
rnE GREAT NAME.
rhe Mystery Surrounding -Four Lstter4
Which Only the High Priest Could Pro-

1hGN tNtAsW@f
The Mystery Surrounding -Four Lsttsr4
Which Only the High Priest Could Pro-
nounce.
Home JournaLl
Once each year, on the Day of Atone
ment, while the Jewish Temple at Jerusa-
lem rem sined. the high priest was accuse
toned to pronounce upon. the bowed and
awe-ssric1en multitude of worshipers tha
blessing which Contained the mysterious
iame of God. On no other occasion, and
from the lips OF no other person, could this
name be spoken and when the sacred CITY
fell before the Roman armies, and the
Temple itself was razed to the ground,
the ceremony likewise perished and the
name was lost
A peculiar interest in this extraordinary
name has always beon evinced by scholars
and antiquarians. There is something in
the mystery that surrounds it, that ap-
peals alike to the strict religionist and to
the Investigator whose only motive Is the
desire TO explore the religion of the OBJ
scure. What was this name that could
not even be pronounced without bias.
phemy, and which has in consequences
passed away from the knowledge Of man
l1ndl
AS is we'll known, the consonants Of the
name are JHVH or YHVH; and since the
time of the Hebraist Galatnus the popu-
lar usage has been to pronounce ID
Jehovah, following the example Of that
scholar, Yet no one believes this to be In
any way correct, ana the ingenuity Of
hundreds of commentators has been taxed
to restore the original vowels. The name
itself, however it was primarily pro
nounced, is one OF marvellous antiquity II
is derived from verb. but was almost
forgotten in the time of Moses, and its or
IGN is absolutely lost in the msts Of an
antiquity that makes the pyramids seem
uliciently modern 1t was the essen
italy national namc given to th o Creatof
by the Jews--the name by which they
thought OF Him in the privacy Of their own
homes, in the presence of their own
al iars- too sacred 10 be spoken, save once
each year, and by the lips of the cons&,
Grated priest of tho Most High. So hcdged
about was it With reference that tho Rab-
BINS do not even dare To write about IL
but allude to it mystcriously as The
Namc,H or "1hc Name OF -Four Letters"
in which the Samaritans likewise follow
them. Yet, although in seems so wholly
Jewish some or the most singular coiuci
dcnccs are to be found In the usage Of
other ancient languages. In the Chinese,
some thousand years before Christ, there
are llusions to "name of three mystical
letters, IHV' denoting that which none
can comprehend. Among the Ph1nicians
the name had equal reverence; the Greek
writers speak OF the great name" which
they impcrfectly give as IEUO or LAO;
and an inscription in the ddyf'tm by the
temple OF Isis at the Egyptian SAILS recalls
the same'drcad tetragrammation. It would
seem almost as though this were tho title
by which prmcval man was divinely
taught 10 worship his creator.
AS has been said, the name, so far as
can be learned, has never been pronounced
since Titus destroyed the Temple at Jeru-
salem in A. ID. 40. Whether before that
time 1T was never in any way fully com
mlttcd TO writing is quite unknown. Some
OF the Rabbins who are unable to deny
that the reported miracles of Christ were
actually wrought, declare that he accom-,
plished tbem by accidentally gaining pos
session OF parchment in which ''rhe
Name" was fully written, and which
thus conferred upon its owner cxtraordi
nary and supernatural powers Whether
previously written or not, it must have
been so recorded when Jerusalem foil, for
we learn OF individuals who preserved
the true pronunciation for many
centuries Josephus, in his 'An-
tiquitics," speaks of the name, but says
that it would be unlawful for him to ex-
plain it. The Jewish Mishna speaks OF q
Jew named Kamzar, who was aware OF
the sound of the letters. In fact, as late
as the year 1863 the Orientalist Leusden
met Jew at Amsterdam who professcd
TO be able to utter them correctly His
family, he sail had preserved the tradi.
tional pronunciation by means of writing
LeuSden offered the man a large sum of
money if he would utter the word Just
once, and his offer was accepted; but
shortly after, and before the payment had
been made, so great a terror seized upon
him as TO seal his lips, nor could nc be
persuaded, either b Y bribes or entreaties,
TO perform his promise.
The secret therefore must be regarded
as wholly lost; nor, perhaps, would
spirit of reverence desire it to be dis,
covered, though even The most orthodox
Christians regard the Jewish feeling
about the name IS nothing better than a
superstitution Whatever one may think,
the mystery that surrounds the whole
subject appeals very strongly to the
imagination, as is seen in the melancholy
end OF a well-1nown American scholar
who devoted his whole life to an investiga-
lion Of the name, aud upon whose mind the
question wrought so strongly as 10 pro-
duce insanity.
IL may be of interest to give the various
pronunciations that different scholars
have considered the most probable Cap
pei would have it Yahvoh; Furst, Yeheveh;
Mercer, Yehveh, and Wright, Yahaveh.
but perhaps the majority of Orientalists
incline to YdhUeh. In reading the Hebrew
Scriptures tho Jews themselves never
pronounce the word at all, but substitute
the ordinary AdOnai or "Lo,d."